Summary

With tensions escalating between the United States and North Korea over the North's resumption of its nuclear weapons program, Korea has recently become a focus of media attention. Home to more than 60 million people today, North Korea and South Korea have been divided along the 38th parallel since the defeat of Japan (Korea's former colonial ruler) at the end of World War II. Outside of Korea, South Korea is better known than its neighbor to the north is, and it has prospered over the last few decades as a model democratic regime. North Korea remains a secretive society, struggling to meet the needs of its people, and is something of a mystery to most outsiders. And while the geographical and ideological divisions that now separate the North from the South persist, the two countries share a long history and a uniquely Korean culture.

Written by one of the leading experts on Korea, A Brief History of Korea covers the history of Korea from the origins of the Korean people in prehistoric times to the economic and political situation in North and South Korea today. Providing a detailed overview of the cultural and historical influences that have shaped Korean society, the author discusses the major periods of Korean history—Three Kingdoms, Koryo Dynasty, and Chosun Dynasty; the foreign invasions Korea has endured; the post-World War II situation that led to the country's division and the Korean War; and developments in North and South Korea from the end of the Korean War up through the present.

Coverage includes:

From Early Settlements to the Silla Unification of Korea

Unified Silla and Koryo

The Early and Middle Choson

Late Choson

The Japanese Colony

Liberation, Division, and the Korean War

South Korea's Long Road to Democracy

North Korea.

Specifications

About the Author(s)

Mark Peterson is associate professor and current director of the Korean Studies Department at Brigham Young University. He received his Ph.D. in East Asian studies from Harvard University and served as the executive director of the Fulbright program in Korea from 1978 to 1983. He is the author of Korean Adoption and Inheritance: The Creation of a Classic Confucian Society, which won the Yeonam Prize for the best work on Korea in 1996, and he coedited Korean Women: View from the Inner Room. Peterson is a member of the Association for Asian Studies, where he is the chair of the Korean Studies Committee.

Phillip Margulies is a professional writer and editor. He has written more than a dozen books, including Nuclear Nonproliferation in Facts On File's Global Issues series. He is also the book editor for a series of books on turning points in world history.

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